Improvement in coffins



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUELH. YOUNG, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT IN COFFINS.

Specification formipgmpart 'of Letters Patent No. 40,137ydatcd September29, 1863.

Tov all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL H; YOUNG, of St. Louis, in the county of St.Louis and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Gofns and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear,'andexact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making a part ot' this specification, in which-Y Figure l is aperspective view of my improved coiin. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinalsection through the' middle of thecottin. 1I lgf is a topview of the coffin withoutA the Similarletters of reference indicatecorresponding parts inthe three figures.

My invention relatesto an improvement in .air-tight coftins, which ha vea deodorizing. compartment constructed at one end of them. Snc-h..coi`1ins.. heretofore i have been Y Amade A metal wherever they haveproved practical and useful.

Myinvention is designed to render practical the substitution of wood formetal. It further is designed to obviate the inconvenience arising, fromhaving the deoderizingcha'rnber a part of the coiin-body proper.

The first improvement that I have made consists in making theCottin-body of wood planking and closing the bottom joints by a systemof blocking, as hereinafter described, the to joint being made tight bya droprabbet and a strip.

The second improvement consists in coating the blocking-joints and theentilre interior surface of the coffin with a gas-tight mixture, so

as to till up the pores of wood and the joints in a manner to make theblocking continuous and solid.

The third improvement consists in a metallic deodorizing-box, made witha partition under which the gases have to pass before they can escapefrom it, in combination with a wooden cofn,.made with plank sides,joint-blocking, and coated gas-tight on its interior and at the jointsof the blocking, all as hereinafter described. The saiddeodorizing-chamber being made outside of the coffin, and arranged so asto be accessible in order to clean it out, I replace newr and efcientcompounds without disturbing the coffin or suering an inconvenience fromthe smell of the decayed corpse.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention', I willproceed to describe vits construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, A A represent the two sides, B B the headand foot boards, C the bottom, and D the lid, of a cofand put togetherin the usual manner. The upper edges of the two side boards, and alsovthose of the end boards, are rabbeted insidev to receive a projectingstrip, a., whichv is secured to the bottom of the lid D, as shown inFig. 2, so that by coat-ing the strip aand the edges of the rabbet bwith white lead and litharge a4 perfectly air-tight joint will be formedat these points when the lid D is screwed down in its place. The jointsof the side, bottom, head, and foot boards are closed which form, whenproperly secured in place, .arcontinuousrfblocking?. asshownin Figs. .5and 3. The entire interior of the coftin is now and naphtha, which isapplied with a brush when about the consistency of varnish. Thiscomposition lls up the pores of the wood,

A wooden cotiin can in this way bemade perfectly air-tight; but as sucha coffin would be very liable to burst, in consequence of the force ofgas inside, it is therefore necessary to make some vent for the escapeof gas. This I accomplish, and at the same time deoderize the gas, byboringA aV hole through the footboa-rd and introducing therethrough atube, c, which is of sufcient size to allow the gas from the interior ofthe coiIin to escape in such quantities as to prevent all liability otthe bursting or springing of the, joints ofthe cot'- tin. The outerendof this tube c communicates with a box, G, which is secured in anysuitable manner to the foot-board B. Within this box is put any of thewell-known deodermade to pass before it can escape from the box G. Thishas the effect of purifying the gas and depriving it of its offensiveodor.. This box Gr is made with a partition closed -at all points exceptat its bottom, where an orifice is c'ut for the gases to iioW through.By this indicated by the arrows 2, 3, and et, and thus they will bethoroughly deodorized before they tin, which parts are, or may be,constructed by means of triangular strips g, 0f wood,

coated with a mixture composed of beeswax` rendering it air-tight, andalso cements the continuous blockingg and makes it very solid.

izing compounds, through whiclrthe gas is.

arrangement the gases will take the course i escape. This boxinay hemade of metal,

closed tightly at every pari: except the gas exit c'. The deodoiizerniziyrenia-in for any length of time in this box, and renewed i'iointime 1o time, as it loses its eiicacy.- The, box (lmay he so applied tothe coiiii that it can he removed, if desired, and when iliade neatlyand applied to the con it will liaye a very good appearance.

Froni this description iii will he seen that I ain enabled to inalie alcoiiin which possesses.

all the advantages of the metallic cases, in so far as preventing theescape of obnoxious gases7 aiidvwhich is'iiiuch, liehier and cheaperthan these metal collins. The coating oi' wax l i i and naplitha rendersthe wood and the joints of the cofiin gas-tight, andeiiables nie to pre`vent the escape ot' gas at all points except` where it can be passedthrough 'a purifying compound.

What I claini as my invention, and desire' -to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. Arranging'the deodoi'zing chamber` oil the outside ol' the coiln-hodyinstead ot' within it. iii the inanner and lfor the piu-pose described.

